Wes, Can't say that I'm the battery expert here. but I live aboard a sailboat half the year and I have done away with my "starting" battery and rely on my 6x6v golf cart bank to do the job. However, I live in Mexico and it never gets really cold here... so if you're in a climate that freezes, the high discharge rate of the starter battery might be needed. I think it may be that you would need more than one battery to handle the load, as well. My system on my Westy will be a bank of two 6v deep cycle batteries (about 100 amp) with an isolation diode (a big one) under the back seat and the normal starter battery. I like to read in bed and listen to the stereo, have a dvd player, too. I would run the fridge on propane. Another option might be a small Honda generator... anybody out there using a genset?

Jim C 71 Bayview 86 Westy 2.1

On Sep 24, 2008, at 8:31 PM, pickle vanagon wrote:

> Rather than adding an aux deep cycle battery to a westy, how about > just > replacing the starter with a deep cycle? > > As I see it, the advantages over adding a second battery are: > Usually when you add an aux battery, only the fridge is hooked up to > it. I > don't really care to run the fridge off a battery. What I mostly > care about > is extended capacity for the 12v dc ports, all of the interior > lights, the > stereo, etc. It seems like changing over all the wiring for this > stuff > could be a pain. > Won't take up any extra space. > Maybe I need to replace my starter battery now anyways (hint hint.) > > Disadvantages: > You can still run down your battery. > > But I figure the point is that it will take longer to run down your > battery > this way. And I always travel with a little jump-start battery > anyways > (just in case), so if need be, the deep cycle could just be jumped. > > > > So, what's up with this idea? Worth doing? Or should I just bite > the bullet > and rewire all the lights/power ports/etc to an auxiliary deep-cycle? > > Thanks, > Wes